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On this page you will find the current lesson and on Sunday Night Spotlight 2, you can study the previous lessons !
*CHAPTER ELEVEN*:
Chapter eleven is divided into three sections:
1. Denounced the leaders in Jerusalem vss 1-13
2. Brought comfort to the exiles in Babylon vss 14-21
3. The conclusion of this vision vss 22-25
The leaders of Jerusalem were convinced that Jerusalem would never be
conquered. Ezekiel was given the duty by God to smash this delusion.
In verse one we see the prophet feel himself lifted up and brought to
the east gate of the Temple. This is the same spot where the
throne-chariot had momentarily set down (10:18).
At the eastern gate Ezekiel saw twenty-five men. It is unclear if there
is any significance in the number twenty-five.
The two mentioned by name by the prophet were prominent statesmen,
“leaders of the people.” This term refers to the ruling class of Judah,
not necessarily the royal family.
Vs 2 The twenty-five men are said to be those who “devise iniquity and
give evil advice in this city.” Exactly what this iniquity and advice
was is not revealed. Since the time of this vision dates from the latter
half of Zedekiah’s reign, Jewremiah’s experiences with the princes may
give some indication. In open contradiction to Jeremiah’s constant
proclamation of certain doom for Jerusalem, the princes optimistically
advised the people of the city’s invulnerability. There constantly urged
for revolt against the authority of Nebuchadnezzar. Such policies were
equal to rebellion against the will of God (Jer. 27:12ff.).
Vs 3 These defiant counselors say, “The judgment of which the true
prophets spoke is not near; let us build houses.” Jeremiah had urged the
exiles /in Babylon/ to build houses and settle down for a long stay
(Jer. 29:5-7).
These advice givers see Jerusalem (the pot) as providing protection to
her inhabitants (the flesh).
Vs 4 The prophet has been given the God-given task of rebuking the
defiant counselors. The repetition of the command to prophesy stresses
the urgency.
Vs 5 Ezekiel knew that it was God who was giving him to vision so he
prefaced his message with “Thus says the Lord.” The prophet would be
inerrant in his message.
In addressing the message to “the house of Israel,” Ezekiel was
referring to Judah because by this time the northern ten tribes had been
carried off to Assyria in captivity.
Vs 6 The reference here is probably prophetic as to the many slain who
would lay in the streets of Jerusalem as a result of the invasion of
Nebuchadnezzar and his armies.
Vs 7 When the armies of Babylon came, those inhabitants of the holy city
would be trapped as the city walls would be as the sides of a cooking
pot and the slain would be as the meat that was being cooked.
This is simply saying that Jerusalem will afford no protection to the
inhabitants. Many would be slain; others would be carried away into
captivity on foreign soil.
Vs 8 The sword that the leaders of Jerusalem was fearing was Babylon.
These fears, Ezekiel announced, would be justified by events.
Vss 9-11 Now the prophet gets more specific concerning the fate of the
leaders. Their expulsion from Jerusalem, spoken in vs 7, would not
result in escape to safe refuge. They would be delivered up into the
hands of strangers (Babylonians). Through these foreigners God would
bring His judgment. Ultimately they would fall by the sword. They would
taste the judgment of the Lord at “the border of Israel.” This was
fulfilled when the princes of Judah were massacred at Riblah (Jer.
52:9-11). Riblah was on the northern frontier of the kingdom of Israel
(1Ki. 8:65; 2Ki. 14:25).
When these predictions came true, then they would know that the Lord is God.
Vs 12 The wages of sin is death. Rather than following the laws of God
as given through His prophet, Moses, Israel had rather mimicked the
heathen and worshipped at their altars instead. Now they would suffer,
and many would die for their sin.
Vs 13 Pelatiah son of Benaiah was mentioned in vs 1 numbered among the
twenty-five leaders of the people. Did he die because of hearing the
prophecy of Ezekiel? This would have been very dramatical for those who
remained.
In asking about the remnant, the prophet is probably wondering if those
who would be left in the holy city would also die.
Vs 14-15 They are reminded that all Jews were included: those left in
the city, those of the northern tribes who had been carried away into
the Assyrian captivity, those who still worked the land and tended the
vineyards.
Because some were still in the beloved city did not necessarily mean
that they were especially blessed of God any more than those in exile
meant that God cursed them. They were all brethren.
Vs 16 Even though the people who were out of the land, either by their
own volition or in forced captivity, God would still be their sanctuary,
their resting place.
Those exiles were really nearer to the presence of God than those who
worshiped in the Jerusalem Temple from which the Lord had now departed.
He was their protection and source of strength.
The phrase, “a little while” suggests that the captivity was temporary.
Vs 17 For those despised exiles God had something wonderful in store.
God would gather and assemble His people from among the nations where
they had been driven. Furthermore, to these presently despised and
disheartened exiles He would give the land of Israel. This prophecy
began to be fulfilled in the work of restoration achieved by Zerubabbel,
Ezra, and Nehemiah. Butt he work of gathering God’s people goes on today
wherever and whenever the Gospel is preached. Men and women baptized
into Christ become part of the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16) and inherit the
Jerusalem, which is from above (Gal. 4:26).
Vs 18 Those exiles brought home by God would be spiritual persons.
Immediately upon returning they would remove “all its detestable things
and all its abominations.” (idols and all the things associated with
idolatry).
Vs 19-20 Here the prophet is speaking of the unity (one heart) that
God’s people would manifest before the world. The long-standing enmity
between north and south, Israel and Judah, would disappear. Oneness of
purpose and of action would characterize the new Israel of God. I fear
that in the church we speak of “maintaining the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace” but in practice often is not evident.
The means of achieving this grand unity of which the prophet speaks
among God’s people is the divine gift of a “new spirit” (vs 19).
This prophecy can only be understood in light of Pentecost when the
church was established. Cp. Jer. 31:31-34
Vs 21 The glorious promises of God come to an end with a stern warming
to those Israelites who may be hardened in unbelief. Certainly the
inhabitants of Jerusalem are in view in this verse, but he warning is
not limited to them. Those who continued to walk after idolatry would
face the judgment of God. He would “bring their conduct down on their
heads.” He would give them what they deserved.
In the workings of God, each set of promises has a corresponding set of
punishments, which fall upon those who do not through faith and
obedience claim those promises.
Vss 22-25 The throne-chariot of God has paused at the eastern gate of
the Temple court. Now in his vision Ezekiel saw those wings of the
cherubim begin to move, and the entire throne-chariot with the glory of
God over it became air-borne. The heavenly chariot came down on the Mt.
of Olives east of Jerusalem. From that same spot, centuries later, the
Son of Man “beheld the city, and wept over it”; and from that hill He
ascended into heaven.
The vision comes to an end as Ezekiel felt himself transported by a
spirit to Chaldea, the land of captivity. The prophet then related to
the exiles all that God has revealed to him.
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